Etymograph

English

lane

Lane comes from Middle English lane ‘lane, alley’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *lanō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lanō‘lane’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lanu‘lane’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150lanu‘a lane’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lane‘lane’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1930same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lanō‘lane’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lanu‘lane’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150lanu‘a lane’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lane‘lane’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1930same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1930, Dominic Behan, Come Out Ye Black and Tans: “Tell her how the IRA made you run like…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *lanō

Today it means

noun A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *lanō / lane

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